Cheesecake... yeah.

Tomorrow is the big day, which is why I started today. This meant making the cornbread for the stuffing and the cheesecake. It's a pumpkin-bourbon cheesecake with graham cracker-walnut crust. This is my first attempt at making a cheesecake from scratch, so it really helped to have a recipe to go by--Cooks Illustrated rocks most amazingly. Naturally, as with everything else, there were a few substitutions, like chai spices for cinnamon. I ran out of cinnamon when I made cinnamon buns last week, and I forgot to buy more when I went to the store yesterday. I also couldn't find the allspice, so I didn't add any; I'm not sure if we actually have any in the pantry, but if we did, it was doing a really good job of hiding.
So, there it is, Mr. Cheesecake in his tinfoil suit and bain marie just about to have the oven door closed on him. It certainly did turn out well, but tomorrow we'll be able to see if it tastes as good as I hope it does. Mr. Cheesecake will be preceeded by roasted, stuffed chicken, something with red potatoes, and something with greenbeans. Other than that, I'm not sure what else will go on in the kitchen.
In the meantime, I also got my flu shot today, so I'm not sure how much I'll be up for tomorrow. *sigh* It's made my shoulder quite sore, which is unpleasant when I have to reach for something like that naughty little knitting needle that's rolled under my chair. Speaking of which, I finished the back of Zenia's cardie. Yay. :P

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.